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Introduction: AI-linked Asian stocks slump after slowdown callGood morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Investors are reassessing the value of companies driving the artificial intelligence revolution after several leading AI figures called for a slowdown in development for safety reasons.Shares in AI-linked companies in Asia dropped when trading began today, dragging South Korea’s KOSPI index down by 3.7%. Chipmaker SK Hynix has slumped by 5.75%SoftBank, a major AI invester, fell by as much as 13% in Tokyo after OpenAI’s chief executive officer Sam Altman said that the ChatGPT-maker won’t go public…

Credit: Bagus Kurniawan/NurPhoto via GettyThe waters off the coast of Peru are normally one of the most productive fisheries in the world, each year producing millions of tonnes of anchovies to be used for fertilizer and animal feed. But in late August, the government cancelled the anchovy season early: the El Niño event gaining strength in the tropical Pacific Ocean has increased ocean temperatures and sent full-grown anchovies in search of food to deeper, colder waters, ruining the catch.That is just one example of how this year’s monster El Niño is causing disruptions globally. Forecasts for the months ahead suggest…

The former West Ham and QPR goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko has died at the age of 64. Miklosko, who won caps for Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, had been living with cancer.Miklosko joined West Ham from Baník Ostrava in 1990 for £300,000 after a trial and helped the club win promotion to the top division in his first season. He left in 1998 having made 373 appearances, joining QPR, initially on loan.Miklosko ended his career at QPR in 2001 and returned to West Ham, where he worked as a goalkeeping coach until 2010. He later worked for a sports agency before…

Israel’s culture minister has called for the Oscar-winning Israeli directors of NAZA, a documentary about the country’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza, to be stripped of their citizenship, accusing them of “treason against the state”.NAZA, which was produced by the Guardian, is named for an acronym used by Israel’s intelligence service to indicate how many civilians it expects to die in an airstrike on Gaza.In the film, the Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor spoke to 24 different Israeli military or intelligence whistleblowers who outlined the AI-powered targeting systems used to bombard Gaza that have killed tens of…

Could a warm cup of tea really be the key to cooling down in hot weather? Or is that just something caffeine fiends tell themselves when they’re still working through a pot of coffee as the temperature hits 30C?Prof John Tregoning, the author of Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death, says it depends on the circumstances. He points to the work of Australian scientist Prof Ollie Jay, who is a world leader in researching heat and how it balances out in your body.When it comes to drinking a hot beverage, there are two effects on your body. “You’ve got the heat that the drink gives…

Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE today announced the commencement of its Initial Public Offering (IPO), marking a historic milestone in Nigeria’s economic development and the evolution of Africa’s capital markets. The offer will be formally launched at a ceremony on the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in Lagos, bringing to the public, for the first time, an opportunity to own a stake in Africa’s largest refinery and one of the world’s most significant industrial projects. The IPO, which opens today, September 14, 2026, consists of 4.1 billion new ordinary shares offered at N525 per share, with a…

AI-linked stocks tumbled on Monday after the bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX called for a slowdown in “reckless” development citing fears the technology could soon run out of control.Shares in SoftBank, a Japanese investor that is a big backer of OpenAI, slumped 13%, while the South Korean Kospi stock index, which relies heavily on chip makers that supply AI companies, dropped by 3%.In Taipei, shares in the big global microchip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 1.2%. Futures for the Nasdaq pointed to a 1.3% drop in the tech-heavy index when the US stock market opens this afternoon.The sell-off…

•Analysts finger Dangote Refinery IPO By Peter Egwuatu The Nigerian equities market reversed bullish trend last week, as N1.9 trillion was lost to widespread profit-taking across major stocks. The market was bullish penultimate week, as investors gained N3.73 trillion on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX. However, last week’s trading was characterised by heavy selling pressure across banking, industrial goods, consumer, oil and gas, and insurance stocks, with the bearish sentiment extending to several highly liquid stocks that had supported the market’s earlier rally. Specifically, the NGX market capitalisation declined to N157.587 trillion from N259.558 trillion recorded penultimate week. In similar…

Yesterday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy open letter saying it was time to “pace the frontier” and slow down AI development. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Elon Musk both agreed, publicly voicing their support on X. Even Alphabet’s Demis Hassabis offered tentative support for Amodei’s proposal.Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, seem to think the AI executives are being overreactive and fear that a pause could lead to China outpacing the US in the AI race. According to the Financial Times, Trump said “Look, we’re leading China in AI … and, frankly, I want to keep it…

Board of trustees recommending that the main building be closed immediately due to costs, US newspaper reports.Published On 14 Sep 202614 Sep 2026The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, is on the brink of bankruptcy and could close as soon as Tuesday, The Washington Post has reported.According to the report in the United States newspaper on Sunday, the institution’s board of trustees, of which President Donald Trump is the chairman, has argued that putting the president’s name on the facade could be the only way to avoid imminent and “certain fiscal collapse”.Recommended Stories list of…